Doctor cleared of sex assault tells of his nightmare wait

A family GP who was falsely accused of assaulting a teenage patient spoke yesterday of a "nightmare" nine months, after a jury took just 20 minutes to clear him.

Dr Bhupinder Singh Sacha said he was "delighted" after a High Court judge attacked the Crown Prosecution Service for bringing the case.

He examined a 17-year-old girl at the Hollycroft Medical Centre, in Hinckley, Leics, on February 28 this year when she came to him suffering from abdominal pain and discomfort in her pelvis.

Dr Sacha, 60, told Leicester Crown Court he carried out a routine internal examination "to reassure myself and reassure the teenager, and to rule out a pelvic infection".

"It was negative," he said. "It wasn't an important thing to record in the notes. I asked her if she was okay to be examined and she said yes."

Witnesses in the case, including her father, who waited outside the surgery, said she showed no sign of distress. Only after talking with her sister did she tell the police, because the GP had not asked for a chaperone.

Dr Sacha was arrested, and later suspended from practising. He told the court: "I was taken to a dark cell. I was in tremendous shock."

He told police he did not ask for a chaperone because it was a busy day, with 50 patients waiting. The prosecution accepted GPs often omit negative examinations from their notes.

The girl also alleged Dr Sacha had touched her breasts while examining her heart area. Experts argued that it was a routine examination.

Mr Justice Elias said the CPS should properly "weigh up the weight of the evidence" before proceeding in such cases.